New Year's Eve killing: 'Grief will never leave us,' mom tells judge

Robin Sickles, left, is comforted by husband Jim at their home in Mission Viejo the day after their son Robert, 27, was stabbed to death outside the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa following a New Year's Eve party in January 2011. Robert Sickles' killer was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Friday for the stabbing.FILE PHOTO: LEONARD ORTIZ, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

SANTA ANA – A mother gripped a courtroom podium and told a judge through tear-stained eyes Friday that she faces a lifetime of grief and pain over the stabbing death of her oldest son – an Air Force veteran – outside a Costa Mesa hotel following a rowdy New Year's Eve party nearly three years ago.

"I will forever live with unbearable suffering and there is simply no words that could ever fully describe my pain," Robin Sickles told Superior Court Judge Francisco Briseno. "Grief will never leave us."

She then returned to her seat in the 11th-floor courtroom gallery where she was surrounded by dozens of family members and friends and watched in silence as Briseno handed down his sentence to Adam Randy Baker, 23, the Dana Point man convicted earlier this year of second-degree murder for the Jan. 1, 2011 stabbing death of Robert Sickles, 27.

Briseno sentenced Baker to 18 years, eight months for killing Robert Sickles and the attempted murder of another man during the skirmish that erupted when Baker flicked a cigarette toward Sickles' younger brother as they were leaving a heavily advertised New Year's Eve party at the Hilton Hotel. Baker's parents were not allowed to speak during the sentencing hearing.

Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy argued that Baker picked a fight for no good reason, and then quickly pulled a knife when the confrontation became physical.

Robert Sickles tried to calm the escalating situation and protect his younger brother by urging Baker, "Dude, relax," but was pushed, slashed and stabbed in the heart. He died in his young brother's arms.

When Sickles' friend, Brian McTiegue, tried to intervene, he was stabbed in the back, Murphy said. McTiegue survived.

Robin Sickles said her oldest son died a hero when he tried to defuse the argument over the flicked cigarette to protect his younger brother.

"How is it possible to give birth to an 8-pound, 4-ounce baby, watch this amazing human being grow to an astounding 6-foot-4, 190 pounds and develop a peace-filled and loving zest for life," Robin Sickles said, "and then, after only 27 years, see him reduced to ashes?"

Robin Sickles, left, is comforted by husband Jim at their home in Mission Viejo the day after their son Robert, 27, was stabbed to death outside the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa following a New Year's Eve party in January 2011. Robert Sickles' killer was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Friday for the stabbing. FILE PHOTO: LEONARD ORTIZ, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A family photo show Robert Sickles at Bass Lake in the Sierra National Forest. Sickles, 27, died Jan. 1, 2011, after being stabbed while trying to protect his younger brother. COURTESY SICKLES FAMILY
A family photo of the Sickles family: from left, Robin, David, Genevieve, Robert, and Jim. Robin Sickles said the family's grief over the loss of Robert is something they will have to bear their entire lives. COURTESY OF THE SICKLES FAMILY
A distraught Robin Sickles has a tear wiped away by her husband, Jim, as they grieve the death of their son Robert in January 2011, days after he was stabbed to death outside s Hilton Hotel in Costa Mesa. FILE PHOTO: LEONARD ORTIZ, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Photos, personal items and candles make up a memorial set up for Robert Sickles at his parents' Mission Viejo home, Jan. 3, 2011. Family members Ashley, Betty and Kristine Oliver, from left, grieve with the Sickles family. FILE PHOTO: LEONARD ORTIZ, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Robin Sickles is embraced by her son's friend, Scott Grimm, at their home in Mission Viejo on New Year's Eve 2011. One year after Robert Sickles, 27, was stabbed to death after a New Year's Party in Costa Mesa, the family spends their holiday remembering Robert. FILE PHOTO: ANA P. GUTIERREZ, FOR THE REGISTER

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